Harvey Krauss applied for the vacant position of Florence’s town manager. Instead, he has been hired as the town’s new economic development director and senior planner.
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Harvey Krauss applied for the vacant position of Florence’s town manager. Instead, he has been hired as the town’s new economic development director and senior planner.
“This does not remove him from any future consideration for vacant positions,” said Lisa Garcia, town clerk and interim town manager.
Several people have been interviewed for the town manager position, but a decision has yet to be made.
“I very much enjoy local government management, and I'm excited about the opportunity to assist the town of Florence with maintaining and building on the outstanding quality of life which residents and businesses strongly value and have come to expect over the years,” Krauss wrote in his application letter for the town manager position.
From April 2014 to November 2021, Krauss worked as city manager for Eloy, where he:
Managed the operations of a full-service city with 120 full-time employees (six direct reports) and a total budget of approximately $52 million (fiscal year 2021-22)
Assisted the mayor and city council with developing policies, short-term and long-range goals and objectives, the annual budget, and provided timely information and recommendations to the mayor and council on various city and community issues
Implemented the city's budget, facilitated the daily operations of the city
Developed and maintained excellent working relationships with other governmental agencies, community organizations, and private businesses
Krauss also has worked as interim city manager for Eloy, as well as community development director for the city. He also worked for the city of Goodyear as a development process administrator, community development director and assistant city manager. In addition, he has worked in local governments in Wyoming, New Mexico and Texas.
He earned his master’s degree in public administration from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque; a master’s degree of Arts, Geography from Arizona State University and a bachelor’s degree of arts, geography from East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina.
Late last year, Florence’s first economic development director Elan Vallender resigned to return to his home state of Texas. Prior to coming to Florence, he had worked as the senior economic development specialist for Apache Junction. The economic development director post was created in 2021.
Janet Perez News Editor | Florence &
Queen Creek @AzNewsmedia
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